


Hope For The Best

by samdeanstilinski



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drinking, F/F, F/M, M/M, Smoking, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-02-27 03:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2678096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samdeanstilinski/pseuds/samdeanstilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Gavin's senior year, and the news around school is that Michael Jones has recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend Lindsay Tuggey. Not that Gavin cares, of course; sure, the guy wasn't bad looking, but he wasn't in to him. Not even after they run into each other in the bathroom and Michael offers Gavin a cigarette, and hell, not even after the two actually become friends and talk almost every day. Not even a little bit. </p><p>Though Gavin will admit, he likes Michael's presence -  the warm fluttery feeling he gets in his stomach, the urge to do something stupid and reckless, the contagious smile that spreads across Michael's lips when he does something dumb. So maybe Gavin lied about not being into Michael. Either way, he's hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, because there's no turning back now and Michael's about as easy to read as Gavin's Latin textbooks.</p><p>Which is to say, bloody impossible.</p><p>[Or where Michael is a bit of a badass, and Gavin totally digs it.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I decided to try my hand at a high school au, because why the fuck not? Here it is anyway, I haven't planned that far in advance so I'll probably be changing the summary at some point in the near future. And the title too, but anyway. The title is based off of a You Me At Six song, for those curious.
> 
> I'm hoping to have all the chapters be about this length, unlike my other stories, which average around 2500 words a chapter. Oh, also, I'm from Europe so have no idea what American High School and stuff like that, so if I get something wrong feel free to correct me in the comments or whatever. :)
> 
> That's about it. Hope you like it. :')

Gavin searched the room for a familiar face, attempting to avoid the elbows and shoulders of his peers as he shoved through the crowds. His eyes landed on familiar dark scruffy hair, and he started to move in that direction.

Miles saw him before he had reached him, and quickly approached him with two glasses in his hand. He passed Gavin a glass and clapped him on the shoulder, causing the beer to threaten to spill out over the edges.

“Gavin!” he greeted, grinning wildly. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“Barbara dragged me into it,” Gavin said. “I tried to get Ray to come, too, but that was never going to happen.” Miles laughed at that, and took another swig of his quickly emptying glass. Gavin copied the motion and winced as the cool liquid ran down his throat. 

A hand landed on his shoulder, jostling his beer further, and Barbara’s face came into view. Her eyes trailed over the other party-goers, before landing back on Miles and Gavin with a smirk. 

“I got Gavin to come, are you proud of me?” she asked sarcastically. Miles let out a bark of laughter and nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed, equally as sarcastic. “It’s a fucking miracle, is what it is.”

“Shut up, you two,” Gavin grumbled, gulping at his beer. Barbara laughed at him and ruffled his hair affectionately. 

“You love me for it, really,” she teased. Her eyes scanned over the crowd again, and Gavin wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Who are you looking for?” he asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Arryn,” Barbara said, just audible over the answer. As he had expected. Gavin turned to Miles and rolled his eyes, and the latter burst into laughter. Barbara whipped her head around to face him, and he quickly turned it into a cough. She narrowed her eyes. 

“I think she’s over there, talking to Chris,” Gavin said, waving his hand towards the other side of the room. Barbara turned her head and searched through the waves of people. Her eyes lit up suddenly and she grinned, ruffling Gavin’s hair again. Gavin yelped and jumped out of her reach, quickly patting his hair down again.

“Thanks, Gav. I’ll catch up with you guys later, see you!” she waved goodbye as she began to navigate through the crowds. Gavin watched her go with a smile before turning his attention back to Miles. Miles wiggled his eyebrows at him. 

“What?” Gavin said. He doubted he could be heard over the pounding music, but Miles seemed to get the message.

“You like Barb.” He said it as a statement, not up for debate. Gavin rolled his eyes dramatically and scoffed. When he had first moved to Austin in his freshman year, sure, he’d had a huge crush on Barbara. Now? Not so much.

“No, we’re just friends,” Gavin disagreed. Miles smiled at Gavin knowingly. 

“Sure, whatever you say,” he said sceptically. Gavin sighed and went to argue, but a firm hand on Miles’s shoulder shut him up. Geoff grinned at Miles, a beer of his own in his hand. Gavin’s eyes trailed along the tattoos that wound up his arms, an intricate pattern of designs. Geoff caught him staring and smirked at him.

“Like the tats?” he said. Gavin blinked, diverting his attention from the man’s arms to his face. “I know a guy who does it pretty cheap, if you’re interested. He’s not dodgy or nothing, sure he’s done most of mine-”

“No, I’m good,” Gavin interrupted. He couldn’t imagine how his parents would react if he ever came back with a tattoo. His eyes flickered back to the tattoos, before quickly changing his view to Miles, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. He hoped it wasn’t obvious how intimidated he was in the guy’s presence. Either way, Geoff returned his attention to Miles.

“What do you think of the party, Miles?” he said. Miles grinned up at him, nodding intently.

“Oh, dude, this is fucking awesome,” he said. “What did you say it was for? A first-week-back-at-school-and-I-just-moved-into-a-new-house party… did I get that right?” Geoff laughed.

“You nailed it,” he agreed. “I mean, not sure if I said it exactly like that, but it’s the same thing.” Miles laughed with him and opened his mouth to continue the conversation, but another voice spoke before he could.

“Geoff, I’m heading out of here.” Gavin turned to look at the newcomer, a curly haired boy wearing a leather jacket and a disgruntled expression. Michael Jones, no doubt about it. Gavin had seen him around school, sure, but had never really spoken to the guy. Some of the stories he had heard about him suggested that he wouldn’t want to.

“What?” Geoff exclaimed. “What do you mean you’re heading out of here, you only got here like an hour ago!” Michael sighed, his expression turning even more sour. He glanced towards Gavin, questioning whether he should say what he was thinking in front of him, before deciding that he didn’t care if he overheard.

“Lindsay’s here,” he said. Gavin’s mouth turned into an O shape, and Miles nudged him. Gavin closed his mouth with a light blush. He had heard the rumours, of course, that Michael and Lindsay had broken up over the summer, but he hadn’t really believed it. The two had been together since Gavin had arrived in Austin three years prior. 

“Oh, dude, I’m sorry. I mean, you should still stay, but-”

“Nah,” Michael said, waving his hand to shrug it off. “It’s cool, I should probably get back. Study and shit.” Geoff rolled his eyes, and Michael cracked a smile. They both knew the last thing Michael was about to do was study. 

“Well, text me whenever,” Geoff said. Michael gave him a quick nod and headed on his way, giving Gavin a glare as he left. Or maybe he wasn’t glaring, and it was just his natural expression. Gavin couldn’t really tell.

Gavin watched him go, eyes following him until the door shut behind him and Miles coughed to get his attention. Gavin turned and found that Geoff was no longer with them – a quick scan of the room revealed he had found his girlfriend Griffon and the two were in the middle of an intimate make-out session. 

“Dude, you looked like a fucking deer in the headlights when Geoff spoke to you,” Miles chortled. Gavin rolled his eyes at Miles’s statement and shrugged a shoulder.

“What do you expect? He’s the bloody leader of the Achievement Hunters. He’s, like, hardcore.” Miles almost choked on his drink at Gavin’s description, but Gavin ignored him. “I still don’t understand how you two are friends.”

“Don’t know if friends is the right word, but whatever. And I’ve told you this story a million times,” Miles said, swallowing the last of his beer. “I went to a camp over summer a couple of years ago with Jack and Geoff.”

“Oh,” Gavin said, nodding as the story came back to him. “Yeah, I remember now. I must have forgotten because of how fucking boring it is.”

“Oh, fuck off, dude,” Miles said, but his tone was light and teasing. “You’re the one who asked.” Gavin smirked, unable to argue. Miles raised his glass to his lips before realizing it was empty. He frowned and placed it down on the table next to him. 

“I’m going to get some more bevs, want some?” he asked. Gavin looked down at his own glass, which was almost empty, and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll take some more,” he agreed, downing the rest of his beer. He placed it on the table beside Miles’s empty glass. He could feel himself starting to get a bit tipsy. Miles gave him a crooked smile.

“Kay, I’ll be back in a sec, don’t go anywhere. I don’t want to have to chase you down with a glass of beer in my hand,” he warned. Gavin raised his arms in mock surrender, smirking at Miles’s back as he walked towards the kitchen. He leaned against the wall and waited for his return. 

He noticed the crowds starting to flock towards the windows and doors. Curiosity piqued, he started to move to see what the commotion was. He could see two figures out in the lawn through the darkness of the night. One of them lashed out at the other, and the crowd all started to yell as a person fell down. Gavin stepped closer to the open door, trying to see who was involved in the fight.

The man on the ground had dark hair, and a further look proved it to be Chris Demarais. Gavin frowned lightly, his eyes turning to the other man to see who he could be fighting. Familiar auburn hair and a scowl on his face – Michael, of course.

“You prick!” Michael yelled, kicking angrily in Chris’s direction. Chris spat out dirt and started to get to his feet. “You fucking dickhead prick! I saw you with Lindsay, I _saw_ you!”

Chris stumbled to his feet, expression dark. He scowled in Michael’s direction, before charging towards Michael. The two bodies collided and roughly fell to the floor in a painful heap. Gavin raised his eyebrows and stepped backward to avoid getting involved, but someone from inside the house jostled him forward again as they ran past.

Lindsay ran into the garden and tried to pry the boys off of each other. Michael was tugging at Chris’s shirt, pulling him back to the ground when he tried to stand up. Lindsay started to yell at the two of them to stop, but when it didn’t work she turned to face the onlookers.

“Someone help!” she screeched. “Stop them from fighting, they’re gonna’ get hurt!”

“I’ll go get Geoff!” someone yelled from inside. Gavin’s eyes trailed over the crowd gathered, and then turned back to Lindsay on the yard. An idea came to him, something he would later blame on the beer he had drank earlier. If Gavin helped them out, then the Achievement Hunters might actually take notice of him, maybe he could actually be popular in is senior year. Gavin stepped forward and helped pull the two boys off of each other. The two stood up and stepped away, both still clearly fuming.

“Oh my God, thank you,” Lindsay said, smiling at him gratefully. Gavin gave her a small smile in return, but it quickly fell when Michael started to charge for Chris again. He remembered reading about how teachers are ordered to break eye contact with boys if a fight breaks out in school, and decided to step between them.

Well, that was a dumb idea. Michael’s eyes widened and he quickly tried to divert his course to avoid Gavin, but he didn’t make it on time. Michael’s shoulder crashed into him and Gavin was sent spiralling to the ground, winded. 

Geoff’s body came into view. He roughly grabbed Michael by the back of the shirt and pulled him towards him. Michael struggled to get away, but Geoff wouldn’t let him go. He leaned into the boy’s hear and muttered something in his ear, expression dark. Michael scowled and pulled away. This time, Geoff let him go.

Gavin turned his head from his position on the ground to see Lindsay helping Chris to his feet. Chris dusted himself off and rubbed at is forehead, where a bruise was starting to form. She grabbed Chris’s other hand and lead him inside, leaving Gavin alone on the grass as the party goers started to make their way back inside now the fight was over.

A hand reached out towards him, and Gavin took it graciously. Miles stared at Gavin incredulously. Gavin dusted off the back of his trousers and sighed.

“Dude, what did I tell you? Don’t fucking move!” he hissed. He looked Gavin up and down with a frown. 

“Did you get trampled by elephants or something while I was gone?”

“Close, Gavin replied, slightly bitter. “Michael Jones, actually.” Miles’s mouth dropped open, and Gavin rolled his eyes. Miles’s expression slowly twisted into a grin.

“Dude. Tell me _everything_.”

***

Gavin was pretty sure by now that Mr Ellis only hadn’t taken the pictures of the dissected eye off of the projector screen because he could tell that Gavin was about to puke. He had been holding it in for the past three minutes, but he could tell he was going to blow any second. The two bags of crisps he had earlier really weren’t sitting well with him right now.

Ray, who sat beside him, looked about as pleased about Gavin’s reaction as he was. He sat on the edge of his seat, as far away from his best friend as possible, paying more attention to the retching noises Gavin was making every few seconds than the lesson itself.

“If you’re going to puke, get the fuck out of here,” he muttered under his breath. Gavin gagged again and felt bile rise in his throat. With one hand to his mouth, he rushed out the door, eyes locked on the bathroom down the hallway. He locked the stall behind him and hurled into the toilet.

Gavin flushed the toilet and leaned back against the wall, letting out quiet gasps for air. He fished a mint out of his pocket and rolled it around in his mouth, trying to remove the image of the eye from his mind. His stomach protested again, but this time when he heaved, the only thing to come out was the mint still in his mouth.

He heard the bathroom door open, and expected to hear Ray or Mr Ellis coming to send him back to class. The person didn’t speak out to him, though, and Gavin waited in silence.

A tap turned on, followed by some shuffling and the flick of a lighter. Gavin furrowed his eyebrows, not sure if he should say anything. The smell of smoke filled the air, and Gavin held a hand over his mouth and nose to stop himself from coughing.

The person let out a frustrated groan, followed by several curse words, and Gavin was starting to get a pretty clear idea of who it was on the other side of the door. The tap turned off with a squeak, but the smoke didn’t clear and no footsteps left the bathroom. 

Gavin couldn’t hold his breath any longer. He let out a sharp gasp for air, which was met with silence. The other person sighed, and three quick raps tapped against the stall door.

“You coming out, then?” Michael called. A light flush crept up from under the collar of Gavin’s shirt, and he unlocked the door. He stepped out of the stall and Michael’s eyes met his. The guy was leaning back against the bathroom sinks, a cigarette in one hand, dressed in his signature leather jacket. The aftermath of the fight at the party was evident from the bruises that littered his face.

Michael didn’t say anything immediately; he simply stood there, eyes narrowed at Gavin. Gavin’s stomach twisted in knots, and he was unsure if he should leave. Michael lifted the cigarette to his lips and let out a long drag. He noticed Gavin’s eyes following the motion. 

“You want one?” he asked. “I have some more in my pocket.” Gavin opened his mouth to say no, but he paused. He had never had a cigarette in his life, and had never planned to have one either – usually, just being in the same room as a smoker was enough to start him coughing. Yet there was something about Michael that made him want to go for it, something about his aura that made Gavin want to do something stupid and reckless.

Michael clearly took his silence as a yes. He held his own cigarette between his teeth as he pulled the lighter and cigarette pack out of his pocket. He threw the lighter at Gavin, who scrambled to catch it, barely managing to stop it from falling to the floor. The corners of Michael’s lips quirked upwards around the cigarette in his mouth. 

He proceeded to break a cigarette out of the packet, this time handing it to Gavin. Gavin took it and flicked the lighter, having to flick it on several times before a flame stayed put. He lit the cigarette and passed the lighter back to Michael, who had removed the cigarette from his mouth again. Michael blew out a whiff of smoke and sighed.

“You’re the one who was at the party,” Michael commented. “The one who tried to stop the fight, and I ended up shouldering to the floor. Sorry about that, by the way.” 

“You’re okay, I’ve had worse,” Gavin replied absently. Michael’s eyes widened at the sound of Gavin’s accent; something Gavin was used to by now. Most people reacted similarly when they realized he wasn’t from around here. 

At the mention of the party, Gavin’s eyes examined the bruises on Michael’s face. They weren’t very dark, but there were a lot of them. At least he didn’t have a black eye, though they were red rimmed. Gavin wasn’t really sure if it was from crying or from whatever the guy probably smoked after school. He seemed pretty broken up about Lindsay, so Gavin wouldn’t be surprised either way.

“You going to smoke that, or what?” Michael said, nodding his head towards the cigarette. “The smoke has to be pretty much clear by the time the bell rings for next glass.” Gavin’s eyes dragged downwards to the cigarette still in his hand and he pursed his lips. A feeling like stage fright churned his stomach. Gavin let out a breath, muttered a quiet ‘fuck it’, and brought the cigar to his lips.

The cigarette was similar to what Gavin expected – smoky, and not enjoyable at all. Gavin sputtered and coughed as the smoke filled his lungs, gasping for air. He couldn’t see how Michael, or anyone, for that matter, could enjoy this shit. Speaking of Michael, the guy was doubled over with laughter, eyes watering.

“Holy fuck, that was priceless,” he breathed out in between snickers. “Do that again, please, and I’ll record it to laugh my ass off again later.” Gavin pouted at him and stuck the cigarette out towards Michael.

“I don’t want this anymore,” he said. “You’re so mean, Michael.” Michael grinned and took the cigarette from him. 

“What the fuck did you just call me? _Micoo_? It’s Michael, dumbass,” he said. He walked into one of the stalls and threw Gavin’s cigarette into the toilet, before flushing it. Gavin watched him with a light frown.

“Speaking of which,” Michael added, turning back to face Gavin. “What’s your name, anyway? I’ve just kind of been referring to you as British Kid in my head for the past five minutes.” Gavin rolled his eyes, a smile touching the corners of lips.

“Gavin Free,” he said, holding his hand out to fist bump. Michael looked down at it sceptically, smirking. He eventually reached down with the hand not holding a cigarette and bumped fists with Gavin. Gavin cheered, and Michael rolled his eyes. 

“Shut the fuck up, British Kid,” he joked. “And help me get rid of this smoke.” The two wildly waved their arms in an attempt to push the smoky air out through the vents. Gavin doubted it was working, but when the bell rang to signal the end of class, Michael didn’t look worried. He flushed his own cigarette down the toilet as he had done with Gavin’s. He then headed for the door, giving Gavin one last smirk before he left.

***

Gavin closed his locker, eager to get out of school as fast as he could. Miles and Kerry stood beside him with their bags already over their backs. Gavin tried to pay attention as Miles animatedly spoke about a video he had seen the other day, but was finding it hard to be interested. Miles didn’t seem to notice, though – having Kerry’s attention was enough for him. Gavin noticed the way Miles’s eyes lit up when Kerry laughed, and smiled to himself.

“Hey, Gav, a couple of us are heading out to town tonight, trying to see if we can get into any bars with our fake IDs,” Miles said after finishing his conversation with Kerry. “You comin’?” Gavin slung his bag over his shoulder and started towards the exit, Miles and Kerry not far behind.

“Sounds good,” Gavin said, nodding. “I’ll meet you in town about ten. Is Ray coming?” Miles let out a short laugh and shrugged a shoulder.

“You know what, if you can convince him, be my guest,” Miles answered, still smiling. Gavin smirked and shrugged a shoulder.

“You’d be surprised. Ray loves me,” Gavin said with a laugh. “He’ll probably come over later, I’ll ask him then.” Miles nodded and waved goodbye. Gavin returned the gesture and gave Kerry a thumbs up, before heading towards his parent’s car.

***

Gavin’s bedroom door opened and he paused his game of Halo to look in. Ray strolled in, a bag slung over his shoulder and a cocky grin on his face.

“’Sup, Vav,” he said, swinging the bag over his shoulder so that it landed on the bed. He closed the door behind him and hopped down lightly onto the edge of the bed. Gavin rolled his eyes and gestured for Ray to grab another controller. 

He was more than used to Ray coming by uninvited at this point. The two had been friends since Gavin had moved to Austin in freshman year, and it wasn’t long before it was a rarity the two weren’t together. 

“So, what’s with the bag? Is it full of food? Please tell me it’s full of food,” Gavin said, eyes not moving from the television screen. Ray shot his character and took their base’s flag, and Gavin yelled out a curse.

“I’ve got some chips in there, and a pack of Red Bulls, but it was more for the script,” Ray replied. His character was shot dead just outside his own base, and he let out a low grumble.

“Script?” Gavin echoed. Ray nodded, his tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip in concentration.

“Yeah, an assignment I got in drama class. I was hoping you could help me with it.” Gavin groaned. 

“No way am I doing that again,” Gavin said stubbornly. Ray sighed.

“Come on, Vav, it’s really important. I could get a good part in the school play,” Ray pleaded. Gavin rolled his eyes and gave Ray a mischievous smile from the corner of his lips.

“You don’t care about the play,” Gavin stated. “You just want to impress Mr Heyman.” A deep blush from Ray proved that Gavin had guessed correctly, and Ray quickly fixed his glasses. Gavin smirked. 

“You should get him to help you. Is it really romantic? He could be Romeo, you could be Juliet – because we both know you’re definitely not a Romeo. ‘O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Gavin pretended to swoon, and Ray hit him with his bag. Gavin laughed.

“Shut the fuck up,” Ray blushed. “And you mixed up two quotes there. After wherefore art thou Romeo, it’s deny thy father and refuse thy name, and if thou wilt not, but be sworn-” A loud groan from Gavin interrupted Ray’s monologue.

“Dude, it’s all Shakespeare, it’s all the same,” Gavin protested. Ray sighed in disagreement, but knew better than to try and argue with him. Gavin smiled, eyes crinkling, and turned back to the game.

“You know, I wish you would go back to liking Barbara,” Ray commented. “Then I’d have someone to tease you about when you piss me off about Mr Heyman.” Gavin shrugged a shoulder. He let out a small curse as the game ended and the blue team had lost. Ray let out a whoop and broke into his bag. He threw Gavin a Red Bull and opened one for himself, knocking the drink down his front in the process.

“Ahh, fuck me!” Ray hissed, watching as Red Bull dribbled down his shirt. He put his can on the floor and turned to Gavin. “Pass me a jumper or something.”  
Gavin threw him the jacket he had been wearing in school earlier, chuckling quietly to himself at the mess Ray had made. Ray wiggled his eyebrows at his friend and put the jacket on over his shirt. He reached down to pick up his can again, but halted suddenly, nose wrinkling up. 

“Hey, did you _smoke_?” Ray asked. Gavin felt his cheeks heat up and his eyes widen, but he tried to play it off. He pulled at a loose strand on his sleeve, avoiding looking at Ray. 

“No, what the fuck, why?” he asked. Ray frowned and sniffed the jacket, wrinkling up his nose again.

“Your jacket really smells like it,” he said. “I didn’t think either of your parents smoked.” Gavin shook his head no, and shrugged a shoulder. For some reason, he didn’t want to tell Ray about the meeting with Michael. Maybe it was because he had made a fool of himself, or because Ray would call him an idiot for trying a cigarette. Partially, at least, was because he wanted to keep the memory for himself, as stupid as it sounded. Just thinking about it caused his stomach to flutter.

He knew Ray would assume that Gavin was telling the truth about not smoking, anyway. Gavin couldn’t stand smoke, and even the smallest things made him gag. He clearly wasn’t built for smoking. 

“Hey, let me see the script, then,” Gavin suggested, trying to change the subject. “See how you’re going to impress Mr. Heyman this time.” Ray scowled at Gavin.

“I should start carrying wet bread around in a plastic bag, and hit you with it whenever you piss me off,” he said. Gavin squirmed at the thought of it, and Ray laughed at his discomfort.

“Not funny, Ray,” he said, pouting. “Not funny at all.” Ray smirked at him. 

“It so was funny.”

“Nope.”

“A little bit, though.” Gavin rolled his eyes and popped open his can. They fell into a comfortable silence as they started up another round of Halo.

“Miles asked me if I wanted to go out on Saturday,” Gavin said. “He said you should come.” Ray pursed his lips and shook his head.

“Nope, I’m not looking after your drunken ass,” Ray said immediately. Gavin rolled his eyes and took a sip of his Red Bull. 

“Ahh, lad, come on. We might not even get into any bar,” Gavin pointed out. “We’ll need you to cheer us up if we just end up faffing about around town.” Ray raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Sounds tempting,” Ray said sarcastically, pretending to think about it. “I’m going to have to pass.” 

“ _Ray_ ,” Gavin whined. “Please? I’ll practice your script with you.” Ray gave a defeated sigh, and nodded.

“Alright,” Ray agreed. “I’ll go out tonight, why the fuck not? You better be on top of your fucking game with this script, dick.”

Gavin cheered.


	2. Chapter 2

It seemed that a lot of people had the same idea as Miles, as the bar was crowded with people Gavin had recognised from school. The bouncer had hardly even glanced at his fake ID, and Gavin was sure that they would have gotten in fine without it, even Kerry, who unlike the rest of them was only in his junior year.

Gavin sat down at the table beside Ray, a bottle in his hand, and took a swig. Ray sipped at his own diet coke, occasionally adding in a quick witted joke, but otherwise staying quiet. Gavin rolled his eyes and elbowed his friend in the ribs.

“Cheer up,” he said. “You look so mopey.” Ray raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged a shoulder. He took another sip of his coke.

“I didn’t want to come,” Ray reminded him. Gavin let out a frustrated groan.

“At least look happy, then,” Gavin said, smirking at his friend. Ray sighed, before proceeding to give Gavin a maniacally large grin.

“Is that better?” he asked sarcastically. Gavin laughed and gave his friend a thumbs up. Ray rolled his eyes, but when he returned to sipping at his coke, he had a light smile on his face.

“I think… I’m awesome,” Miles said decisively. Everyone at the table turned to stare at him, and Miles burst into laughter. Kerry groaned and wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders. Gavin looked at them with a light smile on his face.

“What the bloody hell is up with him?” he asked. Kerry grinned and motioned to Miles’s third empty bottle.

“He’s just drunk,” he explained, before adding on as an afterthought, “I think. I hope.” Gavin laughed.

The door to the bar opened, and Gavin looked up to see the new arrival. They had been waiting for Barbara and Arryn to arrive for the past hour, and there was still no sign of them. They had said they were going to be late, but Gavin had started to doubt they were ever going to show.

It wasn’t Arryn and Barbara, though – it was Jack Pattillo. He walked in with a grin on his face, laughing at someone over his shoulder. Michael walked in afterwards, wearing a similar smirk as he explained something to the older one, waving his arms wildly to get his point across. Gavin watched them approach the bar, only looking away when a hand landed on his arm.

“Hey, are you staying over afterwards?” Ray asked him. Gavin blinked and turned to his friend, slightly confused.

“What? Oh, uh, yeah. Probably.” He paused, a light blush spreading across his cheeks at being caught staring at someone. “Is anyone else staying over?” Ray shrugged a shoulder and poked a straw into his second can of diet coke. 

“Miles and Kerry, maybe. I’ll ask them later.” Gavin nodded, and glanced back to the bar. He could see Jack there, but Michael seemed to have disappeared. Gavin turned back to the group, surprised to find that he was almost disappointed.

The door opened again, and this time Arryn and Barbara did walk in, hand in hand. Arryn led the two of them over to the table and they pulled over chairs, sitting in between Kerry and Ray. Arryn immediately started into a conversation with Miles, leaning over Kerry, and Barbara turned to Ray and Gavin.

“Hey, losers,” she greeted warmly. She reached across the table and grabbed Gavin’s bottle, dragging it across the table before taking a swig of it. Gavin stared at her, a mock-hurt expression painting his features. Barbara let out a small laugh.

“Go get another one, and I’ll pay for it,” she promised. “I just can’t be assed to get up.” Gavin rolled his eyes but agreed, taking everyone else’s orders before leaving the table. It seemed that it was only Arryn and Miles who wanted anything, but Kerry intervened on Miles’s behalf.

“He’s not having any more of that stuff,” Kerry warned. “I swear to God, he’s a nightmare when he’s tipsy, let alone drunk out of his mind.”

“I think it’s a bit late for that,” Gavin pointed out with a smile, but agreed to get Miles a water instead. 

Gavin ordered the drinks and sat down by the bar while he waited, fishing notes out of his pocket. He could hear his friends laughing just a few metres away, and glanced back to see what they were laughing at. While turning his head, his eyes landed on a different table where the Achievement Hunters were sitting. 

Geoff had his arm around the back of Griffon’s chair, tattoos on full display, and Ryan and Jack were in the middle of a conversation that was evidently hilarious. Looking at them, Gavin couldn’t help but feel that they looked so much older than seniors. He knew that Geoff was repeating his senior year, but he still looked a lot older than nineteen. He also noticed that one key member of the group was missing, and wondered where he was.

His question was answered when Michael stormed out of the bathroom, looking a lot angrier than he had earlier. He slumped down in a seat next to Geoff and Ryan and wrapped a hand around his beer bottle. Gavin hadn’t even realized that he had been staring until Michael looked over at him and caught his eye. Gavin looked back at the bar, blushing wildly, and quickly paid for the drinks that had just arrived. 

He went to pick up the drinks, but stopped when a hand landed on his arm. Gavin turned his head to see himself face to face with Michael Jones. Michael gave him a worn out crooked smile and sat down in the seat next to him. Gavin glanced over at his friends, who had yet to miss his absence, and sat back down in his own seat. 

“You’re the British Kid,” Michael commented casually. “Gavin, yeah? You know, I still can’t get over how fucking hilarious you smoking was.” Michael turned to get the bartender’s attention before continuing the conversation, and Gavin smiled to hear that Michael had been thinking about the meeting too.

“That’s me, Gavino Free,” Gavin replied, gesturing down his body and wriggling his eyebrows presumptuously. Michael laughed and turned back to the bar to collect his drink and pay for it. Gavin took the time to take a gulp of his own drink. 

Michael looked over his shoulder at the rest of the Achievement Hunters, and his smile faded a bit. Gavin furrowed his eyebrows, but didn’t comment on it.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Michael asked suddenly. Gavin blinked, taken aback. Should he lie? He didn’t suppose it made any difference. Why was Michael asking?

“No,” Gavin admitted, taking a sip of his drink. Michael raised an eyebrow at him.

“Boyfriend?” he asked. Gavin spluttered on his drink and began to cough wildly. Michael smirked at his reaction, and Gavin quickly shook his head.

“No!” he exclaimed, perhaps too forcefully, once his coughing fit was over. “Why?” Michael raised his hands in peace and shrugged a shoulder.

“I’m not coming onto you or anything,” he assured Gavin, grinning. His smile faded a bit as he continued. “It’s just that I’m so fucking sick and tired of couple talk right now. Geoff and Griffon are all over each other, and now Jack’s going on about some chick named Caiti, and…” Michael trailed off, seemingly realizing that he had shared more than he was supposed to.

“Whatever,” he said, shaking around his beer bottle lightly. “It’s just that it seems to be all people talk about nowadays. It’s like, there are more important things than fucking relationships. And sure, you can be single and perfectly happy, but no one seems to believe you, when you’re fucking _fine_.” Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His curls bounced back into place when he let his hand drop. 

“I didn’t want to spoil the rest of the Achievement Hunters’ good mood and stuff, though, so I figured I should get out of there while they were talking about that sort of stuff,” Michael finished. Gavin nodded, surprised at Michael’s outburst. He had a good idea who Michael was talking about, though.

“Yeah, well, no couple talk here,” Gavin assured him with a smile. “We can talk about something else, like the fact that you pretty much just admitted you’re only talking to me because you don’t have anyone else to talk to.” Michael opened his mouth to respond, but it spread into a grin when he noticed Gavin’s smirk.

“You little shit,” he teased, and Gavin laughed. “I have plenty of people I could have talked to. You’re just lucky that they’re not here – because you’re definitely nowhere near the top of my list.” Gavin nodded, the smirk not faltering for a second. Michael attempted to keep a straight face, but ended up laughing alongside him.

“You know, you’re actually not half bad,” Michael decided with a nod. He took another swig of his beer before continuing. “I mean, for someone with such an annoying accent, who can’t even pronounce the name Michael right.”

“But Michael,” Gavin whined. “I’m pronouncing it the same as you.” Michael stared at Gavin, an incredulous smile on his face.

“How can you fucking think Mi-coo and Michael sound even remotely similar?” he said, his voice rising near the end. Gavin giggled. “They’re completely fucking diff-”

Michael cut off as he looked over Gavin’s shoulder, eyes widening. Gavin frowned lightly and looked behind him to where Lindsay and Chris were making out. Gavin’s stomach dropped and he turned back around to say something, but Michael was already at the door by that point.

“Michael?” Gavin called out weakly, but the boy didn’t even look behind him before closing the door. Gavin sighed, wondering if he should follow after him.

“Hey, Gav, what’s taking so long?” Arryn called, waving him over. “Come on!”

Gavin picked up the drinks, took one last look at Michael’s half-full beer bottle, and made his way back over to the table. He passed out the drinks and sat back down next to Ray, who was arguing with Kerry over some video game. Gavin joined in and tried to push his conversation with Michael to the back of his mind, but he couldn’t help look up at the exit every few minutes to check if he might come back in.

He never did.

***

Gavin lay down next to Ray on the double bed and sighed into the pillow. Ray let out a yawn beside him, the light from the DS illuminating his face. Gavin frowned and buried his face in the pillow to block out the light.

“You’re a weirdo,” he murmured to Ray. Ray didn’t even glance up from his game.

“Shut up, Gavin,” he replied casually. “You’re drunk.” Gavin groaned and rolled over onto his side. He didn’t think he was drunk – a bit tipsy, sure, but his thought process was fairly normal. Well, except for the fact that he only seemed capable to think of Michael. Maybe he was drunk. 

After the guy had left, Gavin had a hollow feeling in his chest that he could only explain as being because of guilt. He should have followed him out of the bar to make him feel better, and he still felt the same hole in his chest because he didn’t. It was stupid – it wasn’t like Michael couldn’t handle himself, and he knew that. It wasn’t Gavin’s responsibility to look after the guy. Gavin wasn’t even sure if it _was_ guilt, but he didn’t see any other reason to why he suddenly felt like shit as soon as Michael left.

He knew he cared way too much about Michael for someone he had only spoken to twice, which he was hoping was some weird effect of the alcohol or something. When Michael had seen Lindsay over his shoulder and gotten clearly upset by it, Gavin had felt upset, too. It was more than just pity, though – it was like seeing Michael sad physically hurt Gavin. And just maybe, he had felt a bit of disappointment, too, that Michael still cared for Lindsay.

Gavin closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else, his breathing or something, to get Michael out of his mind, because it was starting to tell him something about his heart he wasn’t sure he was ready to believe. There was no way that he liked Michael; Gavin didn’t even swing that way, and as far as he was aware, Michael didn’t either. Sure, the guy was pretty good-looking, but it wasn’t like straight guys couldn't tell the difference between attractive and not attractive. 

He was too drunk and too tired to deal with that shit at the moment. Gavin let out a low grumble and slowly forced himself to drift off, the sound of Ray’s Pokémon game lulling him to sleep. 

***

Monday morning came around way too quick for Gavin. He leaned against the locker next to Ray’s, playing Angry Birds on his phone and quickly growing frustrated at his inability to get three stars on one of the levels. Ray rolled his eyes at his friend and slammed his locker shut. 

“You don’t have many books with you,” Gavin commented. Ray threw his bag over his shoulder and shrugged.

“I’ve got double drama first thing,” he explained. Gavin slipped his phone into his pocket and the two started making their way down the stairs.

“Is your audition today, then?” said Gavin. “Ready to impress Mr Heyman?” A light blush crept into Ray’s cheeks. He threw a punch at Gavin, who jumped out of the way with a squawk, bumping into a passing student.

“Whoa! Oh, hey, Gavin.” Gavin stopped in the middle of a mumbled apology to face the student. Michael smiled at him, eyebrows raised. Gavin gave him an awkward smile back.

“Sorry, Michael! That was Ray’s fault, I swear-”

“Oh, way to stick up for your friends, asshole,” Ray teased, hands in his pocket. Michael glanced over at Ray and raised his hand in a half wave. Gavin turned back to Michael, expecting him to say goodbye, but he didn’t seem ready to finish the conversation yet.

“So, what class are you heading to now?” he said, almost awkwardly.

“I.T. with Mr Burns,” Gavin said, without hesitating. “You?” He already knew the answer – Michael had been in his I.T. class for the past couple of years, but he figured it was probably just expected of him to ask.

“Same,” Michael said. “Pretty sure you’re going the wrong way, though.”

“What? Oh, yeah, I was just dropping Ray off to drama,” Gavin explained. At the mention of his name, Ray quickly butted in.

“The drama class I should be getting to right now,” he said, turning to walk away. “Have fun in I.T., or don’t. I don’t give a shit.”

“Thanks, Ray,” Gavin replied, equally as sarcastic. “Say hi to Mr Heyman for me.”

“Fuck off.” Gavin laughed at Ray’s retreating back. Michael broke a smile at teasing. His smile slowly faded though as Gavin turned back to face him.

“So, hey, Gav…” Michael said, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets and looking down at his shoes. “I just wanted to say sorry for disappearing on Saturday. I just had to get out of there, y’know?” Gavin’s eyebrows raised. He hadn’t even considered that Michael’s exit could be seen as rude. Had Michael been worried that he was pissed at him?

“Lad, forget about it,” Gavin scoffed, waving him off. Michael looked up at him, a smile creeping back into his features. Gavin returned the smile, but was quickly distracted when the bell for class rang out.

“ _Shit_ ,” Michael hissed. “We better fucking move, Mr Burns is going to kill us.”

***

Mr Burns had already started into a long-winded speech when the two entered the I.T. room, and he glared Michael and Gavin when they walked in. Gavin gave him a sheepish smile and slumped down in his usual seat beside Barbara, who was digging into a salad. She turned to Gavin with a mischievous glint in her eyes as soon as he sat down, and held up her bowl of salad for him to see.

“Bowl appetit!” she said quietly, grinning wildly. Gavin noticed the name of the salad and let out a low groan. If this became a regular thing, he was going to have to ask Mr Burns to move him. 

A paper plane landed on the desk between Barbara and Gavin, and Barbara picked it up with raised eyebrows. She opened it, read it over once and frowned lightly, glancing behind her to see who had thrown it. 

“What’s it say?” Gavin asked. She flicked the paper towards him and he read it. There was a crudely drawn stick figure with a gun to his own head, with the caption ‘ _Another long ass speech by Mr Burns. KILL ME NOW_ ’ written underneath. Gavin rolled his eyes and turned around, but he couldn’t see who had thrown it. He shrugged a shoulder and turned back around.

Another paper plane hit the back of his head, causing Gavin to let out a small yelp. He blushed lightly and picked the plane up from the ground.

‘ _Hey, British Kid. It’s Michael, dumbass._ ’

Gavin turned back around in his chair and saw Michael in the corner of the room, lounging back in a computer chair. He smirked when he saw Gavin looking and dropped his feet from the table in favour of writing another letter. Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. A second later, a third paper plane swooped in.

‘ _555-678-3232_ ’

Gavin’s smile widened, and he slipped his phone out of his pocket to dial in Michael’s number. Was this an invitation to be Michael’s friend? Maybe he was just looking into it too much. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if it was Michael’s real number.

“Gavin! Is there a reason you’re on your phone while I’m speaking?” Mr Burns said. Gavin looked up and blushed. He slipped his phone into his pocket and mumbled an apology. Mr Burns sighed and continued his speech.

Yet another plane landed on the desk, and Barbara sent Gavin a weird look. Gavin ignored her and opened up the paper, which only had two words written on it.

‘ _Ha. HA._ ’

Gavin grinned.

***

Gavin’s science class on Thursday mainly consisted of Gavin making a tower out of his pencils and erasers, and Ray watching in a mixture of boredom and tiredness. The two left the classroom together, both about as sure as the other on what the class had been about. 

“I fucking swear, if it wasn’t lunch right now, I wouldn’t be able to get through the rest of the day,” Ray grumbled, suppressing a yawn. Gavin smiled lightly and nodded in agreement.

Ray sat down at their usual table, where Arryn and Kerry were already sitting, and Gavin went to buy his lunch. He was waiting in line when a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

Gavin glanced behind him, and saw Michael’s familiar smug grin smirking at him. Gavin’s stomach fluttered, and he quickly shut down the feeling. They had been texting on and off since Monday – it was ridiculous that seeing the guy still made him feel nervous.

“Hey, British Kid,” Michael greeted in his usual sarcastic manner. “What’s on the menu today?”

“Your mum,” Gavin replied without hesitating. Michael’s grin widened and he feigned hurt. 

“Whoa, Gavin!” he exclaimed. “What’s with all the vinegar?” Gavin’s lips curved up and he shrugged in response. He moved up in the line and asked the lunch lady for his food before turning back to Michael.

“Anyway,” Michael continued. “Could I sit with you today? I mean at lunch.” Gavin furrowed his eyebrows at turned to Michael questioningly. Not that he wasn’t delighted Michael had asked – hell, Gavin was sure he was going to burst with excitement – but he didn’t see why Michael wouldn’t want to hang out with the Achievement Hunters.

“I mean, sure, but why?” he asked. A light blush appeared in Michael’s cheeks, and Gavin realized he had never seen Michael properly embarrassed before. The guy seemed too laid back about everything to care enough to get embarrassed.

“It’s nothing, it’s okay,” Michael said, shrugging him off. “I shouldn’t have asked.” Gavin rolled his eyes and let out a light scoff. He passed the lunch lady some change and grabbed his lunch.

“Oh, shut up, you dope,” Gavin said. “I want you to sit with us, I was just wondering why you don’t want to sit at your normal table.” Michael shrugged a shoulder, the corners of   
his mouth tipping downwards, and Gavin suddenly felt bad about asking.

“Just ‘cause they’re always talking about these girls they like, and Geoff and Griffon are all over each other twenty four seven, and you know… with Lindsay…” Michael’s cheeks grew pink, and Gavin’s imitated them. Oh. An uncomfortable pang squeezed at his heart. Michael let out an awkward cough.

“It’s not usually that bad, but Ryan’s been going on about someone in his class since Tuesday, and I don’t have anyone to talk to that isn’t fucking drooling over someone. I’m just sick of it, you know?”

“Yeah,” Gavin agreed, though he doubted to the same extent as Michael. His longest relationship had been three months. “Sorry, mate, I shouldn’t have asked.” Michael’s smile returned and he nudged Gavin’s shoulder.

“Shut the fuck up, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “I mean, apart from the fact that just got way too fucking sappy there, dude, but I’ll let it pass. Now let’s actually go to your table, dipshit.” Gavin laughed and the two of them walked down to join the group, of who had all arrived by now.

Michael sat down beside Gavin, and for a second everyone turned to glance at him. No one mentioned it being strange that he was sitting there, though, and a moment later they all returned to their conversations. No awkward introductions, nothing. Gavin heard Michael let out a small sigh of relief beside him, and his lips tweaked upwards.

“I fucking told him to stay in the fucking car and not to move,” Ray said from beside Gavin, continuing his story to Meg, who was tearing up with laughter. “And the guy not only gets out of the car, but pulls a fucking rocket launcher out of his ass and shoots up all the helicopters in the area!” Gavin rolled his eyes. Ray had told that story about him more times than Gavin could count at that point, but each time Meg still thought it was hilarious.

“Oh my God, Ray, stop, please,” she gasped out between laughs. “I’m going to piss myself.” Ray let out a sharp laugh. Gavin turned to Michael, and laughed along with Ray at his confused expression.

“He’s talking about a video game, GTA,” Gavin explained. Michael’s eyes widened and he nodded.

“You guys into games, then?” Michael said. Ray turned to Michael, the conversation piquing his interest. 

“Hell yeah, we’re into games. Gavin’s possibly the worst player known to man, but it doesn’t stop us,” Ray said grinning. “GTA, Call of Duty, a shit ton of Halo.”

“No way, that’s fucking awesome!” Michael said, grinning. Gavin raised his eyebrows, smiling. 

“I didn’t know you were a gamer, Michael,” he commented. Michael stared at him incredulously, and proceeded to burst into laughter.

“Fucking moron! The group I hang out is literally known as the Achievement Hunters!” he said. “What the fuck did you think it meant? Xbox achievements, dumbass.” Ray joined in on the laughter, and Gavin spluttered wordlessly between them.

“Ahh – but – well, how I was I supposed to know that?” he argued. Michael grinned and tried to push back his laughter. Every time he got close to stopping, he would meet eyes with Ray, and the two would be set off again. Gavin groaned in between them and bit into his cookie. The two eventually managed to stop their laughter, and Michael wiped the tears from his eyes. 

“That was fucking priceless,” he breathed. Gavin pouted between the two of them, and Ray nudged his shoulder. 

The bell rang for class, and immediately the cafeteria was a flurry of movement again as people got up to head for class. Gavin climbed up from the benches and swung his bag over his shoulder. Ray and Michael joined him as he walked to his locker. 

“You know, you two should join us for a game some time,” Michael said. Ray’s eyes lit up at the idea of playing with the Achievement Hunters, and Gavin had to admit the idea seemed surreal to him as well. “You should sit with us during lunch tomorrow, we can get our Xbox Live names and stuff, then.”

“Sounds good,” Ray agreed. Michael smiled and walked off, giving them a wave as he went. Ray turned to Gavin with a disbelieving grin spread across his cheeks.

“Dude, what the fuck just happened?” he asked. “Did Michael Jones ask _us_ to sit with his group?” Gavin shoved him lightly, and Ray laughed.

***

“Hey, Gav, you need a lift home?” Barbara asked, her grip loosening from Arryn’s as the latter continued to Barbara’s car. Gavin smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, thanks Barb. My parents were going to be late anyway, so I’ll text them and tell them they don’t need to pick me up.” His head turned away from Barbara at the sound of his name, and spotted Michael waving goodbye to him from the school entrance. He leaned against the wall beside Ryan, who turned to Gavin and gave him a friendly smile. 

Gavin returned with his own wave and turned back to Barbara, a light flush on his cheeks and a grin spreading across his face. Barbara raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t comment, and the two headed to Barbara’s car.

Arryn had already claimed shotgun, so Gavin was stuck in the back by himself. The first half of their journey consisted of Arryn and Barbara singing along to Aladdin’s _A Whole New World_ with as little tune as possible, and Gavin complaining about the torture his eardrums were being put through. They eventually stopped, much to the boy’s relief.

“So, Michael Jones, huh?” Arryn eventually said from the front. Gavin’s stomach fluttered just at the mention of his name, and leaned forward in his seat.

“Yeah, what about him?” he asked. Maybe they didn’t like that he was sitting with them at lunch? They hadn’t seemed that bothered at the time.

“Oh, nothing.” It was Barbara who answered this time instead of Arryn. “Just that you have a massive fucking crush on him.” Gavin let out a loud squawk, followed by incomprehensible spluttering, and the two girl burst into laughter in the front seat.

“I don’t!” Gavin barked. “I- He’s my friend, we – I’m not _gay_.”

“We didn’t say you were,” Arryn pointed out with a light smirk. “Bisexual, on the other hand…”

“No, I don’t-”

“Seriously, dude, you’re about as obvious as Kerry and Miles. The two keep saying there’s nothing going on between them, but none of us believe that for a second. It’s no different with you,” Barbara stated. Gavin’s heart was hammering in his chest, and no doubt his entire face was red at that point.

“I don’t like Michael,” Gavin said firmly. “We’re friends, that’s it. Maybe not even that, I’ve only known the guy a week or so at this point.”

“Alright,” Barbara agreed, before muttering under her breath to Arryn, “The guy might as well be in Africa, because he is so fucking in de-Nile.” Arryn snickered lightly at her girlfriend. Gavin rolled his eyes and looked out the window. 

God damn it, now they had put doubts in his head just after he had decided he didn’t like Michael. He didn’t _want_ to like him, anyway. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship before it had barely even started. He did not like Michael, he did _not_ like Michael – fuck, he liked Michael. _Shit_. Talking to the guy was already hard enough without realizing that. Plus, if he ever told him, he would probably just laugh in his face.

The car pulled up at his house and Gavin grabbed his bag, muttering a quick bye to Arryn and Barbara before he got out. The new realization was not welcome. Gavin wished he could just pack his feelings in a box and leave them for someone else to deal with. All he felt was confused, and quite possibly dread, at the idea that he had a crush on the guy. A black hole swirled around his stomach and swallowed everything whole, leaving him with an uncomfortable hollow feeling.

Gavin sighed and opened his front door. Acknowledging it to himself had made some sort of invisible weight lift off of his shoulders, only to be replaced with another weight. Because there was no way that Michael was into him, and there was no way Gavin wasn’t going to fuck this up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arryn and Barbara in this chapter just made me smile because they're just too cute and then they were telling Gavin what a dope he is and just aww. <3 Girl power. 
> 
> I feel like this might be going too fast because I just couldn't take Gavin being an oblivious idiot. But you know, we'll see how it goes. Hopefully it'll be pretty smooth and stuff. 
> 
> Also I was thinking when I was uploading this 'hey I should add titles to the chapters' but then I couldn't think of anything for this one or the first one so Chapter One... Two... will have to do for now. I might change it later.
> 
> Oh hey just a little note: If you need anything to be tagged or trigger warnings for chapters or anything, just let me know (seriously it's no bother at all not even a little bit). Same goes with my other GTA AU, and any stories I do in the future. Just thought I should add that in. :)
> 
> Oh hey, another thing I was thinking about when I was writing this; text message conversations, yay or nay? I had a draft for this conversation between Michael and Gavin that I scrapped, partially because I didn't like it and partially because I didn't know what everyone thought about text message conversations in the story. 
> 
> Anyway this note is way too long so I'm just going to leave now. Bye, have fun, stay awesome. :')


	3. Chapter 3

“Bowl appetite!” Barbara said, digging into her salad. Gavin turned to her, forehead leaning against his hand, and let out a loud sigh. It was too early for her stupid puns.

“It’s first bloody class on a Monday morning,” he mumbled. Barbara grinned at him and placed her bowl on the table. She turned back to Mr Burns and Gavin faced his computer screen. He felt like a lot had happened in the last week, yet Barbara still decided to bring the same fucking salad with her every time they had I.T. and say the _same. fucking. joke. every. time._

He had also sat with the Achievement Hunters most days for the past week, and when he hadn’t Michael had sat with him at the usual table. Michael and him were officially friends now, apparently – the first time he had sat down with the Achievement Hunters, it was how Michael had introduced him.

(It had gone something like: “Hey, this is my friend Gavin I told you about, and this is Ray.” And then Geoff had said, “Those two look fucking awesome. They should be our friends forever and sit with us every day because they’re probably just all around good dudes.” Well, he might have paraphrased a bit with that last part. But he had no doubt that it was what Geoff had been thinking.)

He figured it was a good thing that they were friends. Not that Gavin had come to some sort of realisation that nope, he only liked Michael as a friend. His smile still made his stomach turn upside down and a goofy grin spread across his face. Michael sucked.

Gavin’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked up to check that Mr Burns wasn’t looking at him before slipping it out.

>> Michael: you’re an asshole btw.

Gavin’s mouth curved into a crooked smile. It had become a sort of tradition in I.T., the only class they shared together, to text each other since that first day Michael had thrown paper planes at him. Occasionally they’d send each other a text in a different class, but they reserved most of their conversations to I.T. 

>> Gavin: …what did I do this time?

>> Michael: nah nothing. just you being gavin and stuff.

Gavin turned around to roll his eyes in Michael’s direction. Michael raised an eyebrow at him and looked back down at his phone. Gavin’s phone buzzed again and he checked his messages.

>> Michael: we’re only supposed to talk through texting in IT dumbass! you’re ruining the illusion. dickhead.

Gavin let out a giggle, quickly quietening himself when Mr Burns turned to him with a suspicious scowl. He proceeded to type in a reply to Michael. 

>> Gavin: Aww, you love me really though. You’re my boi. <333 

Barbara nudged his shoulder as she tried to read his message, and Gavin quickly turned away from her. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Gavin let out a low groan.

“Is that Michael?” she teased. Gavin’s cheeks suddenly felt hot and he looked back at his computer screen. His phone vibrated in his hand.

“Maybe,” he muttered as a response. “Doesn’t matter.” Barbara grinned at him, but seeing his annoyed expression, turned back to her computer.

“Whatever, I think it’s cute,” she said. “Seriously. You two are adorable.” 

“He doesn’t even like me,” Gavin replied. “He still likes Lindsay, I think.” Barbara’s smile faded slightly, but she just shrugged. Gavin’s phone buzzed again and he looked at his messages.

>> Michael: fuck off.

>> Michael: but yeah you’re ma boiiiiiii. team nice dynamite. <3 

Gavin looked back to see Michael grinning at his phone, and smiled to himself.

***

“You know, I think I like this kid,” Geoff decided. “I can even get used to the dumb fucking accent if I have to.” Gavin rolled his eyes, suppressing a grin.

“I’ve only known you for about a week now,” he said sarcastically. “Good to see it took you so long to like me.” Geoff smirked at him from across the table and bit into his chicken leg. 

“Well, I mean, you make up words sometimes,” he pointed out. Gavin opened his mouth to argue, but Geoff continued before he could butt in. “I don’t understand you a lot, though it’s probably better that way, I guess.” Gavin turned to the two boys beside him for support, but Michael and Ray seemed to be in agreement. Gavin shook his head lightly. He noticed the grin on Ray’s face and raised an eyebrow at him.

“You look happy,” Gavin commented. A light blush crept up on Ray’s cheeks and he shrugged a shoulder.

“Is this about the play? Did you get the main part?” Gavin asked.

“Nah, man. I mean, it is about the play, but I’m not the main. It’s close enough, though.” 

“That’s brilliant, dude,” Gavin grinned, slapping his friend on the shoulder. Ray rolled his eyes, but his grin was just as wide as Gavin’s.

Gavin glanced over at Ryan sitting across from him, a light scowl on his face. Though most of the Achievement Hunters had seemed warm with them from the get go, Ryan seemed uncomfortable with him and Ray sitting with them. Gavin had thought maybe it was just Ryan’s personality in general, but he had seen him talking and laughing with Michael during the week, so it clearly was just a problem he had with Gavin.

Ryan looked up and met eyes with Gavin for a second, before turning to face the rest of the group.

“I’m heading for a smoke,” he said. Michael looked up from his conversation with Geoff and started to get up from the bench.

“I’ll join you,” he added. “I’m dying for a cigarette right now.” Gavin’s eyes trailed after them. Michael’s hair bobbed up and down lightly when he walked, and Gavin smiled to himself. Michael somehow managed to make something as boring as walking attractive – and God damn it, he was getting distracted. Stupid bloody Michael.

“Do you smoke?” Ray said suddenly. Gavin turned back to the table, but Ray hadn’t been talking to him. Geoff shook his head.

“I gave up a while ago, because Griffon hated it,” Geoff admitted with a shrug. Griffon glanced away from her conversation with Jack when she heard her name, but quickly returned to the discussion. “Jack never did, though. He thought it was dumb.”

“That makes two of us,” Ray muttered. Gavin smirked.

Jack suddenly let out a low curse and got up from the table. Gavin watched him walk away with a confused expression, to see him heading towards Michael and Ryan. The two were talking to a group of three boys, and it didn’t look like it was going well. Gavin recognised one of the boys from his Maths class. Jimmy, or something… it began with a J, anyway. Probably.

Jimmy said something to Michael. He gave him a rough shove, and Michael stumbled backwards. Ryan placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder and muttered something in his ear, but the redhead didn’t seem to be paying much attention.

Michael shook Ryan’s hand off his shoulder and shoved Jimmy back. One of his friends immediately stepped in and swung a punch towards his face, but Michael stepped back and the fist only grazed his nose. Jack had reached the group at this point and attempted to break up the fight, but it didn’t seem to be working.

It was only after Michael had swung a hit at Jimmy, who fell to the ground, that Geoff took action. He stood up from the table and approached the group at a leisurely pace, while Ray, Gavin and Griffon looked on nervously.

One of Jimmy’s friends pulled Jimmy to his feet, while the other leaped at Michael. Michael sidestepped him easily and roughly grabbed the guy’s collar. He swung him roughly away and the guy stumbled backwards. 

Geoff stepped in between the two. He yelled at Jimmy’s group, and they began to slink back to their table. Geoff then turned to the still fuming Michael and said something to him. Michael’s eyes widened slightly, before narrowing again. He scanned the cafeteria, where everyone was now staring at him, and his eyes landed on Gavin’s before he left the room.

Gavin blinked. He was suddenly aware of how different Michael was to any of his other friends. He couldn’t imagine any of them ever getting in a fight (and even if they did, they would probably end up dead - cough _Ray_ cough), yet Gavin had only known Michael for a couple of weeks, and he had already seen him in two fights.

He also wondered what it was about Geoff that made Michael stop. Jack and Ryan had been trying to calm him down, too, but it wasn’t until Geoff intervened that he stepped back. It had been the same at the party. Gavin wasn’t sure if it was just because Geoff was the group leader, or something else. Both times, Geoff had said something to Michael just before he had stopped fighting.

Geoff, Jack and Ryan all returned to the table, Ryan seemingly deciding not to go for a cigarette after all. Ryan looked back down at his food, his scowl deeper, and Jack sighed. Geoff looked slightly disgruntled, but otherwise immediately started back into a conversation with Ray about video games. Gavin’s eyes glanced over to the door where Michael had left, and then back to the group.

“Should we not go after him?” he asked. Jack shook his head.

“I wouldn’t. He’s probably still looking for someone to take him anger out on. He gets like this sometimes, he’ll calm down by himself.” Gavin frowned, an uncomfortable feeling settling in his stomach. It was the same one he had gotten after Michael left at the bar.

“What was the argument about?” he asked. Ryan rolled his eyes and let out a low grumble.

“The guy was just baiting him for a fight,” he said angrily. “It was pretty obvious, and Michael probably knew it, too. I think Michael wanted to fight him anyway, to be honest. It was the guy mentioning Lindsay that really set him off, though.” Ryan huffed and stabbed his fork into his food. “Really, though, I know he’s not fully over Lindsay yet, but it’s getting ridiculous-”

“Leave him alone, the kid’s going through a lot,” Geoff interjected. Jack looked doubtful and raised an eyebrow at Geoff.

“Really, though? He’s getting in fights all the time about it, being moody, and you’re sticking up for him?” he said. “I mean, we’ve all been through bad breakups, but-”

“Seriously, Jack,” Geoff snapped. “He’s just not in a good place right now. He’s got a lot on his mind.” Ryan and Jack didn’t seem so sure, but they fell silent. 

Gavin’s eyes floated back to the door. He had an urge to go after Michael, even though he was sure Jack was probably right about leaving him alone. Though he wasn’t exactly comfortable with him and Ryan talking about him so negatively when the guy wasn’t even there, even if they did have good intentions.

Fuck it. Gavin got up from his seat and started towards the door. He could hear a couple of people from the table calling back, but he ignored them. They eventually quietened down.

Michael was sitting outside with his back against the wall, head in his hands. Gavin awkwardly stood beside him for a minute, mustering up the courage to say something.

“Hey, Michael,” he said finally. Michael looked up, and for a moment Gavin almost expected him to be crying. As it was, he just looked pretty pissed, though it faded away to a weary half smile when he saw Gavin.

“Hey, Gav,” he said. “You gonna’ sit down?” Gavin shrugged a shoulder and sat down beside Michael. The two sat there in silence for a moment, and Michael placed his head on his knees. Gavin’s eyes glanced over Michael’s arms, which were no longer covered by his leather jacket, and noticed a dark bruise welling up on his forearm.

“Whoa,” Gavin said, grabbing at his arm. “Did those guys inside do that to you?” Michael scowled and jerked his arm back from his touch. He shrugged one shoulder in response to Gavin’s question.

The door opened again and the two boys looked up as the school secretary poked her head around the doorframe.

“Michael, the principal would like to see you in his office,” she said. Michael scowled and stood up. He picked up his leather jacket from the ground. Gavin watched Michael sling it back on and walk towards the entrance. He sighed.

 

***

To say Tuesday sucked would be an understatement. Michael, as well as the group he had been fighting with, had gotten suspended for three days, and Gavin spent most of the day sulking over his absence and their awkward conversation the day before. Ray tried to lighten the mood by cracking a joke every now and again, but it didn’t really work. The two eventually fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Gavin’s last class that day was I.T. He almost did a double take when he walked in and didn’t see Michael in his usual seat, two rows behind him. He sat down with a light pout beside Barbara and sighed. 

Barbara looked over at his sad expression and held up her salad. “Bowl appetite!” she said with a smile. Gavin raised an eyebrow at her and looked back at his computer. Barbara huffed.

“Sorry, just trying to cheer you up.”

“You thought telling my least favourite pun of all time would cheer me up?”

“Good point.”

Mr Burns set them a task at the beginning of the lesson, but Gavin hadn’t been paying attention, so settled for looking through his phone. He half expected his phone to vibrate with a new message from Michael, and it almost made him disappointed when he didn’t get one.

He reached the top of his messages with Michael, and read over their first text message conversation with a light smile on his face.

>> Gavin: Assuming this is Michael. This is Gavin. Now you have my number too. :’)

>> Michael: hey dumbass. fun fact for you: your contact is called british kid on my phone now.

>> Gavin: Aww Michael. :( I don’t have you added as loud kid on my phone.

>> Michael: well that’s because that sounds dumb as fuck. and besides if we were going by our flaws i would have called you big nose wouldn’t i.

>> Gavin: Well, you sound like Joe Pesci.

>> Michael: not sure how to respond to that tbh. you’re one weird ass fuck, dude.

>> Michael: i didn’t mean that in a bad way by the way. loads of my friends are weird ass fucks. 

>> Gavin: I know what you mean. I feel like I’m constantly surrounded by plebs.

>> Michael: wtf is a pleb? u know what never mind. I gtg chat ya later.

>> Gavin: Bye, Michael. :)

The bell rang, and Gavin put his phone back into his pocket. He left the classroom with a smile, his mind still running over that first conversation. He grabbed his books from his locker and looked over at Ray’s locker, but the guy wasn’t there. Gavin closed his locker and started down to the drama room. Ray never left without him, and he doubted today was an exception. He had probably just been held back from class for a few minutes.

Gavin waited outside the classroom for a few minutes, but when no one came out, eventually decided just to check if he was inside. He opened the door and his mouth dropped open. Whoa. Ray and Mr Heyman were making out. _Holy shit._

“Whoa,” he sputtered out. “Umm, sorry, I’ll just…” Mr Heyman and Ray jumped back, a startled expression on their faces. Gavin immediately back out the door, and Ray reached out towards him. “Wait, Gavin-”

Gavin closed the door behind him. Wow. Umm. He wasn’t really sure what to think about that. He had been teasing Ray for months over his long term crush on the teacher, but he never thought it would actually happen. He was a teacher, for crying out loud.

He could hear low voices inside the classroom, and a minute later Ray came out of the room, face red and worried. He turned to Gavin and shuffled his feet.

“Listen, umm… Gav, you can’t tell anyone about this,” Ray pleaded. “Joel could lose his job.”

“Oh, he’s ‘Joel’ now, then?” Gavin said, eyebrows raised. “What happened to Mr Heyman?” He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “He’s a teacher, Ray. What the hell?” Ray’s worried expression turned to one of anger, and his hands curled up into fists.

“You’re a piece of shit, Gav,” he hissed. “You’ve been encouraging me to go for it for ages now, and now that I do, you just spit it back in my face? What the fuck?”

“Because I never thought it would actually happen!” Gavin burst out. Ray’s expression darkened further. He stepped back and shook his head.

“Just because Michael doesn’t like you back, doesn’t mean you can start giving out when I finally get someone to like _me_!” Ray shouted back. Gavin’s eyes widened, and for a second Ray looked apologetic, but the look quickly faded. Gavin sputtered, looking for a response, but he couldn’t find any. He hadn’t even told Ray he liked Michael.

Ray roughly shoved past Gavin and started walking down the hallway. Tears started to well up in Gavin’s eyes. Ray was right, there was no way Michael liked him. His words had caused his heart to freeze, as though someone had just stabbed him through the chest with a knife. Not only that, he realized, but he could have just lost his best friend.

“Don’t worry!” Gavin yelled after Ray’s back. “I won’t be telling anyone what happened, you bloody prick.” 

Ray held up a middle finger at Gavin over his shoulder, and Gavin watched him go with tears dribbling down his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, finally. Sorry this is late! (Well, I mean technically, I never really had a schedule. But I had kind of been uploading once a week, I guess.) 
> 
> Also I'm still late with my GTA fic, which I haven't written up the next chapter for yet bc whenever I was writing I was writing for this one. Sorry, I just had a bunch of Christmas tests that I had to study for, so I didn't really get that much time.
> 
> And also, I'm not sure about this chapter. Not necessarily what happens, but just certain parts I wasn't sure how to phrase things, and I don't know how it turned out. Whatever, I can edit it later. It's late, okay. :')
> 
> Oh, and sorry this one's a bit shorter than the other ones, too. I just felt the chapter should end where it did. I also went a bit overboard with the text conversations in this one, but I was just like fuck it, why not? 
> 
> Ah fuck, this note is really long again. I have to stop making these so long. Bye. :)


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